Uncovering fraud in personal injury cases requires a great deal of diligence, careful investigation, and attention to detail.
Recently, our Partner, Nicholas Cardascia, exposed a shocking fraudulent scheme where a Plaintiff staged an accident with a delivery truck. Plaintiff claimed the delivery truck driver had pulled out from a parked position, merged into Plaintiff’s lane, and caused the collision.
After speaking with the driver, our investigation revealed Plaintiff sped up from the right lane and attempted to merge left in front of the delivery truck, cutting off the truck abruptly. This caused Plaintiff’s front driver side door to collide with the truck’s passenger side bumper. Plaintiff and all the passengers yelled at the driver at the scene, insisting he caused the accident. The driver, however, was unshaken. He remained calm and called the police to give his version of the accident.
Importantly, the driver also took photographs of and videos, which proved the damage was minor to both vehicles. The delivery truck suffered a minor scratch and Plaintiff’s side door and mirror were scratched and damaged.
Notably, Plaintiff and his two passengers were unharmed by the accident and had no visible injuries. Despite this, Plaintiff claimed he suffered extensive left shoulder and spinal injuries, requiring him to undergo major surgery.
Our investigation revealed that Plaintiff had been involved in prior, similar accidents and that Plaintiff’s no-fault carriers in those prior accidents commenced litigation against him, claiming that the accident was a fraud and that they should not have to pay any of his medical bills.
Aggressive motion practice ensued, including our motion to amend our Answer to include affirmative defenses asserting fraud. After the filing of our motion, Plaintiff’s counsel moved to be relieved as attorney of record. The motion was granted, leaving Plaintiff to proceed pro se and not pursuing his lawsuit any further.
Here through careful investigation, unrelenting motion practice, and persistent litigation strategy our team was able to expose this fraudulent scheme before the court and bring the matter to a conclusion in our client’s favor.